Walk in the Park

The innovative raingarden project in Johnstone Park that harvests stormwater, then cleans and stores it to irrigate the park, is complete and ready to be enjoyed.

The raingarden
features a series of terraced garden beds that filter stormwater to remove
pollutants which would otherwise flow into Corio Bay. A 350,000-litre tank has
been built underground to store the clean water, which will meet about half of
Johnstone Park’s irrigation needs.

The harvested water
will be distributed through the park via 20 kilometres of pipes, buried in
garden beds.

The $1.85 million
project is a key initiative of the Revitalising Central Geelong Action Plan, being delivered through a partnership between the Victorian Government and
the City of Greater Geelong, and is just one of the many Revitalising Central
Geelong projects that have been creating a hive of construction activity across
the city in the past 12 months.

More than 1300 new
plants have been planted within the raingarden and in new garden beds created
around the edge of the park.
The project
includes a new staircase and ramp, providing all-abilities access to the park's
basin. The park's historic Medici urns have also been restored and placed at
the top of the staircase.

The Victorian Government provided $1.7 million for the project, as
part of the $195 million it has already invested in implementing the Revitalising
Central Geelong Action Plan. The City contributed $150,000 to the
raingarden.